Cheesecake Pudding Cupcakes with Yogurt Filling and Strawberry Frosting

This is my first blog post! I’m really excited!!!!!! I wrote up this whole draft and everything, right in the middle of pre-calc.

So Valentine’s Day was yesterday and I decided there was no better time to christen my blog than one of the most popular baking holidays of the year. However, life seems to always get in the way of my plans, so I’m a couple days late.

But these cupcakes are worth the wait.

Look how pretty they are!!

I’ll admit I’m not the biggest fan of red velvet, even though it’s really Valentines-y and everyone does it. In fact, it’s way too overdone and I don’t see what the big deal is. I decided red sucks. Pink is much better. Plus, I had a box of cheesecake pudding mix that had been calling out to me!

There aren’t too many good cake recipes using pudding mix, so I just went with a boxed cake and fluffed it up a bit. Boxed mixes usually produce a cupcake drier than intended, so added an extra egg, more oil, and sour cream can greatly enhance the texture. Add some Betty Crocker frosting, and you’ve got yourself a cupcake.

Take four eggs, a cup each of sour cream and oil, one teaspoon vanilla, and your pudding mix and mix in a stand mixer until combined, then add the cake mix, following the mixing directions on the box. I used a can of evaporated milk and one teaspoon lemon juice instead of sour cream, which is why my cupcakes were lower in fat but fell while baking. Just use sour cream or yogurt. I also used half applesauce and half oil (you can’t taste the apple sauce) to reduce the fat.

Make sure the cake mix you use does not have pudding added in already!!!! I used Duncan Hines yellow cake. Don’t forget to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl while mixing…

Feel free to add sprinkles.

Then pour your batter into cupcake liners about 2/3 of the way full. I got twenty-nine cupcakes out of this recipe.

I also made this cute little filling that I spooned on top of the batter right before I put the cupcakes in the oven. I took some strawberry Chobani and cottage cheese (because I never have cream cheese in my house), mixed it up, and dumped it on. The filling made the cupcake so much more incredibly moist and worked super well with the strawberry frosting.

Bake according to the box, let cool, etc. And frost. I used Betty Crocker Strawberry Mist frosting, even though I usually make my own buttercream. It was a tad artificial for my liking but the taste was acceptable.

Since it was Valentine’s Day, I wanted to pipe roses on top of my cupcakes 🙂 I watched this tutorial from 0:50-1:50:

Purty.

However artificial these cupcakes were, they were a huuuuuuge hit.

Cheesecake Pudding Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup oil
• 1 tsp vanilla or almond extract (or half of each)
• 1 4-serving box cheesecake pudding mix
• 1 box yellow, white, or Funfetti cake mix (NOT with pudding added to the mix!)
• Optional: sprinkles
• Greek Yogurt Filling (recipe to follow), to be made first
• 1 can (tub?) Betty Crocker Strawberry Mist frosting, or other frosting

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees or as required on cake mix box. Line muffin tins with 24-30 liners.

2. Mix all ingredients in a stand mixer according to directions on box. Never over mix!

3. Fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 with batter- I use an ice cream scoop, but you can use a ladle or spoon.

4. Spoon about a tablespoon of filling or to taste into the middle of each cupcake.

5. Pop into the oven and bake according to directions on the box. Cupcakes are done when they puff back up after being lightly pressed, or when an inserted toothpick comes out clean (this works even with the filling!)

6. Cool completely and frost! Watch the tutorial for rose piping.

Greek Yogurt Filling

Ingredients

• 1 six-ounce serving of Chobani strawberry Greek yogurt
• 1/2 c. ricotta cheese

1. Mix yogurt and ricotta in a small bowl with a fork or hand mixer.

2. Cover and refrigerate until ready for use.

Conclusion: I got a bajillion compliments on how incredibly moist these cupcakes were. The cheesecake pudding was not extremely prominent, but it made for a unique flavor. Also, the filling was well liked and it worked well with the frosting. Next time hopefully I can make strawberry buttercream instead of using the artificial one. Make these cupcakes!!!

Link Parties:

Six Sisters’ Stuff Strut Your Stuff Saturday

Still Being Molly’s YOLO Mondays Link-Up

Jam Hands’ Recipe Sharing Monday

Pint Sized Baker’s Two Cup Tuesday

Nap Time Creations’ Tasteful Tuesdays

Inside BruCrew Life’s Trick or Treat Tuesday

The Crafty Blog Stalker’s Blog Stalking Thursday